The Summons
by chillinflute
Summary: It has been a long while since Sonic and his friends left Chris' world, and life has returned to the staple of thwarting Eggman's plans... again. But when Sonic meets an enemy he cannot beat, Tails his loyal friend must become the hero and make a choice that will change not only their world... But all of them.
1. Chapter 1

Wow, this is new.

Really I should have been running by now like Sonic told me to, but I was too startled by what was happening to notice. Why? Because my best mate was actually being beaten for once.

The scene was disturbing, Sonic was lying in a heap on the ground, with an all-too-familiar evil genius doing that all-too-familiar (and utterly ridiculous) evil laugh, whilst simultaneously managing to be an all-too-familiar plonker.

That's Dr Eggman for you.

He was hovering above his latest contraption, The delta-series Sharktooth II. Frankly, I didn't see why we came out here in the first place: the bot looked hopeless, it was ridiculously slow, the hydraulics were creaky, and quite frankly I could've done better with the contents of Amy's garden shed. If this is how much we struggle with Eggman when his robots are this bad, heaven help us all if I take up world domination as my next hobby!

Unfortunately for sonic the metallic shark did have some redeeming features: an irritatingly powerful tailfin, and extraordinary armour. These were insignificant though, compared to its major advantage: its location.

Essentially an oversized swimming pool.

When me and Sonic had first arrived at Eggman's "top secret" (hehe, with Rouge around that didn't last long) base in, for once, Green Hill Zone, everything had gone to plan: from taking down the sentries to climbing into the ventilation system (Mission Impossible style), bypassing the crude laser detection systems with a little device invented by yours truly, and dropping down into this room. Eggman, as always, was waiting for us with his latest killer-bot-on-steroids, hovering above his invention in his egg-chair. I swore that Robotnik was going loopy, (correction: loopier) because the bot looked pathetic (sorry, have I mentionned that already?): it was roughly in the shape of a shark (using the word roughly very liberally here) and made of a strange white material which I hadn't seen before. Sonic did what Sonic always does: hurled a few insults (something like "Would you like your noggin scrambled or boiled Egghead?") before charging a spin dash with yet another ring from my fast dwindling bank account and launching himself at the robot...

...and stopping right at the edge of the water. Sonic's big weakness. I really do wonder at times: 15 year-old supersonic hedgehog... that can't swim. For Pete's sake I'm 8 years old and even I can swim! Man, hydrophobia must suck. Sonic then tried a different tact. He jumped high in the air and attempted a homing in the air he fell towards the rear of the robot, close to the dorsal fin (at least I think it was a dorsal fin, but it had too many spikes for me to be sure) but much to the hedgehog's surprise he didn't even leave a dent. He leapt up again from the surface of the bot and repeated the homing attack on the exact same spot, but to no avail. The shark looked up at Sonic, then to its airborne master, and back again with lazy eyes, and an expression that said "can't you just give up now, it'll make killing you easier". Sonic stopped his assault and looked in disbelief at the shell of the contraption. I had by now figured out the material but could only imagine how the doctor had managed to harvest enough to armour a bot this size, because the impossible armour was made of spider silk. It had to be. It would explain the strange white colour and Sonic's inability to break through it: pound for pound spider silk is stronger than kevlar whilst also being flexible and naturally occurring. It is a super-material I have been trying to get my hands on for months, but to no avail (hey, have you tried farming spiders? Not easy I'll tell you now!)

At a signal from Eggman the shark slapped the stupefied sonic from his perch on its back with its dorsal fin, sending the teenager screaming into the water. I realised Eggman had now got Sonic right where he wanted him. The shark dived under whilst Eggman drifted up to the ceiling girders. I didn't want to see why the robot had its name. I ran and dived into the water. After narrowly avoiding the metal monstrosity's maw I grabbed the struggling Sonic and used my tails like turbine blades to propel us both to the surface, much to the shark's irritation. It snorted (wow, I didn't know robots could do that) and resurfaced with a sour look on its face (I didn't know they could do that either!).

I deposited Sonic on the edge of the pool, bruised and not breathing. I could here Robotnik descending in his chair and I pounded repetitively on Sonic's breast, attempting CPR. After a moment of uncertainty the hedgehog spluttered back into life, spewing out the water from his lungs onto the metal slabs. It was a strange colour; I'd originally though it was the lighting making the water this pinkish shade but before I could ponder further Sonic turned his head weakly and said

"Tails, run, quickly." I didn't want to leave him but Sonic usually knew what he was doing so I obeyed without question and darted behind the nearest pillar just as doctor Eggman descended to eye level with his nemesis. From here I watched, stunned by the scene before me.

At last, Sonic got up, but he did so painfully slowly and his limbs were trembling with the strain. This was bad, for a creature that's used to travelling at the speed of sound to not be able to pick himself up off the ground was worrying, and Sonic would always pick himself up. I nearly went there and then to help my buddy up, but I realised that it would help neither of us and I racked my brain for answers: how could we defeat an enemy that cannot be damaged?

That's when I noticed the controller. It seemed that this particular invention, although in possession of an artificial intelligence, was being primarily controlled by the Doctor himself, as he fiddled with the buttons on a little portable device with an aerial. Perfect. Now, if I could just get my hands on that remote...

"Well, well, well Sonic" Eggman taunted from the safety of his hover chair. "Look who's finally come acropper eh? I can't believe I've not pursued this sort of tactic more often, but I suppose even an evil genius such as I cannot be perfect."

"Really?" said Sonic "I thought you were just awesome in every way: the good looks, the girls, the tash."

"Well I just can't help... wait, was that-"

"Anyway Eggy, what with the white thing on the shark. That stuff's tough!"

"Well, my spiny blue friend, that is spider silk. It's only weak in a web because the strands are so thin. If you can create thicker strands then it becomes one of the strongest substances on the planet." Boasted the overweight menace. He laughed manically and the shark rolled its eyes as if to say "Do I really have to be associated with this guy? Can't we just get on with eating the hedgehog?"

"But how'd you get enough of it to create something that big? Do you have a spider farm out back or something?" The hedgehog asked. I had moved to the next pillar by now in an attempt to creep up on the doctor from behind, but I stopped to hear his explanation; this information would be a scientific breakthrough if someone applied it properly, and Eggman was certainly not going to apply it properly. Which left me as the only other person on Mobius with the know-how, and the will to utilise this material in a way that could benefit others. Typical. Sometimes I just wish there was another genius on this planet who didn't want to take over the world.

"Aha, no my naïve little fellow. If Tails were around I'm sure he could explain the, erm, difficulties with that method. My idea was a bit more high tech than that. But all it took was a little genetic engineering."

Sonic scoffed and tried to move, but fell on his rear again. "Come on Eggman, we all know you're hopeless with biological science. The only reason you managed to develop the egg-virus back on Chris's world was because your grandfather had kept copies of the formula. You couldn't genetically engineer a knat!"

"That's where I come in." said a different voice.


	2. Chapter 2

We all turned towards the source of the voice. There was a doorway that I hadn't noticed before that was previously closed. It was now open and the light from inside wherever it was partially illuminated the room. It was now clear that my theory about the colour of the water was false, as even now with the bright light shining on it it was definitely a pale, sickly shade of pink. I intended to investigate later, if I ever made it out of here. The light was caught however towards the middle of the doorway where something, or more to the point someone, was blocking the light, casting a ghostly shadow hanging like a spirit in the opening. The shadow was large, clearly belonging to someone quite profuse in the stomach department. But it was not this but the shape of the silhouette that troubled me. There was only one man that could look that egg shaped and he was already here! Unless...

Then it clicked.

Safe from my hiding place behind the pillar I saw the robust shape of Eggman Nega begin to form. I couldn't believe it. If Eggman and Eggman Nega were working together, stopping the both of them with Sonic powerless against their contraption would be impossible.

And that was being optimistic.

"Ah sonic, what a pleasant surprise, we were beginning to wonder if you'd show. Yes I have returned from the future to create the ultimate plan, yada yada yada. You know the drill: we want world domination, you want us beaten up and humiliated, things haven't changed. Apart from your position in the whole affair that is. What's it like knowing there's a robot you can't beat?"

"Hah, this heap of junk! I could beat it any day!" Which would have been much more convincing if he wasn't swaying like a drunk "I wondered how long it would be before you used my dislike for water against me - again."

"Ah, speaking of which, where is your little vulpine friend?" Inquired Nega, completely ignoring Sonic's jibe at their tactical ability. "He usually tags along doesn't he?"

"I saw him earlier when he saved Sonic from drowning, but not since. Maybe he ended up on the bottom instead." said Eggman "Sharktooth, go check!" He pressed a button on the remote and the mech submerged.

Hehehe, he'd have issues finding me in there. Not to mention that I'd noticed the shark's eyes were badly made, and probably giving him very little in the way of vision.

Then it hit me: our ticket to stop the Eggmans' plan hid in the very robot we came here to destroy! Now the shark was gone I saw my opportunity to strike, but as before curiosity took hold and I stopped as Eggman started talking again from his chair, his voice coming from everywhere (no, literally, his voice was coming from everywhere: I was stood next to one of the mic speakers).

"And as for our plan our little rodent friend, old Nega here genetically engineered some goats to produce a high concentration of the silk molecules in their milk. When treated correctly one can make it into long strand. We can then use this to create a robot immune to you and your irritating, disrupting plans, whilst, being agile and powerful."

Was it just me or did Sonic keep glancing at me? I decided to stop stalling and test out my plan. I came out from behind the pillar and wheeled in a gradual arc towards the villains, my mind constantly doing the calculations: gradual 140° turn from the pillar around a decreasing radius of 15m-5m. Sonic often told me that this wasn't normal and must come with my IQ, but to me it just seems natural; second nature. I don't even think I'm that clever, but if I say that people look at me strangely.

I was now within feet of Eggman's hoverchair, I could smell motor oil from here and my engineering senses twitched in disgust: he hadn't changed that oil in over a year by the smell of it. Some evil genius if he can't even bother to maintain his own contraptions!

Then, spinning my tails to move faster through the air, I leapt towards the handheld controller in his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Both the eggheads were caught off guard, my fingers grasped the remote and the momentum of the jump tore it from the doctor's hand. I hit the ground and rolled, stopping near to Sonic. He seemed to have fallen again and was trying to stand, but he didn't seem to be able to. I know Sonic is scared of water quite badly, but he couldn't really be that shell-shocked, could he?

"Sonic, you need to get up!"

"I'm... trying. Can't... breathe"

I gasped in horror: his voice was raspy and weak. I'd never heard Sonic like this. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eggman press a button and a device sprung out of the front of the Eggmobile. I couldn't see clearly but it looked something like a gatling gun, and it was pointed business-end first towards us. I could have flown away and dodged the bullets, but then Sonic would be in the line of fire. I spread my arms out and tried to put my body between Sonic and the gun, keeping him from harm. I don't matter, I'm only the sidekick after all. Sonic's like my big brother now; I couldn't let him get hurt. I saw the barrel rotate, turning faster. It would be at firing speed in less than a second. I prepared for the blow...

Next thing I was flying, not in the usual tail-controlled flight I usually achieve, but tumbling head over heels midair and on a collision course with the nearest wall. That cannon must have been powerful to force me such a long distance. The gun had stopped firing, and as I looked I noticed something was wrong. I was behind Eggman's chair: the cannon couldn't have blasted me towards the weapon, that would just be defying physics. I then realised what had happened. Sonic must have kicked me out of harm's way (that would explain why Sonic was standing in the middle of the room, but swaying again. I was worried, we needed to get out of here quick. I had planned to turn the shark-bot on it's master directly, but I abandoned that train of thought and mashed my finger into the self-destruct button on the remote, which engaged with a satisfying beep.

I spun my tails and regained control of my flight path, I hovered near the rafters and waved the remote in front of me, taunting the doctor.

"Hey Eggman, your robot may be well armoured on the outside, but how about inside?" I yelled towards the doc.

"Tails! My my you disappoint me; what kind of scientist are you to give up the greatest innovation in armouring technology in order to save someone who cannot be saved?"

My insides convulsed violently at his words "What do you mean 'cannot be saved'? Of course he can, Sonic isn't beat up that bad!"

"Not yet, but he will be. You better run before this thing blows, I've done what I came for." With that, the not-so-good doctor spun his chair towards the door and zoomed out. Along the corridor I could hear Bocoe and Decoe rushing after their master. Nega had seemingly already left. It just left me and Sonic.

And the time bomb.

I rushed to Sonic, still swaying aimlessly on the spot. It was only at this range that I saw that his body was covered in what looked like surgical syringes. If it wasn't for the fact he was so spiky anyway you could have mistaken him for a living pincushion. His breathing was ragged and forced and he didn't seem able to move.

"Sonic, we've got to go!" I yelled at my friend. Sonic didn't reply but just nodded vacantly before promptly collapsing into my arms. Great. I put him in a fireman's lift and rushed out of the room, Sonic's comatose body limp across my shoulder, weighing me down. I was terrified, not only did I not know how long we had before this place blew up, but my adopted big brother was out cold and I didn't know how to help him, I didn't even know what was wrong with him. Whatever was in those machine-gun-syringes must have caused it, but without a sample I wouldn't be able to help him. A lonely tear rolled down my cheek in the hopelessness of it. All that drove me towards the base's exit was the hope I could help my friend. We were attacked by Eggman's creations all the way to the exit, but there was no time to fight, I either had to dodge or take the bots out on the fly. Difficult when you've got a teen's deadweight on your back. For something so fast he was surprisingly heavy!

Finally we bust out of the entrance, robots were rushing around, as if in panic, so none were in a position to bother us. I took to the skies; I needed to get home and help Sonic. Cream and Vanilla were supposed to be coming round today, as the two best healers in Mobius they were his best chance.


	4. Chapter 4

As I found out on Earth, us Mobians don't age like humans do.  
Humans are constantly getting older, as I found out from Chris's grandfather Chuck, apparently this is true of all animals on Earth. On Mobius it doesn't work like that. Us Mobians are born, and then age continuously until a certain age, from then on we stay the same age and remain like that indefinitely. Like Sonic will stay 15 and won't change. As one of the only three medically knowledgeable people in the area I was often asked to test if people had stopped aging by running a few tests, usually just a study of a blood sample would suffice. I had stopped at 8, one of the youngest in history as most Mobians only stop somewhere after 10. Although I'm not alone; Vanilla asked me to test Cream the other day and she has only just stopped at 9, meaning she is now older than me (now that is irritating!). But I was horrified to learn humans could die of old age; how could humans sleep knowing that they only had a limited time in this life? Sure I believe in an afterlife, but I'd like to change this world as much as possible for the better before I go. I know how scary the prospect of dying is; after all my near-misses while with Sonic and nearly being killed off by my genetic tail-mutation I've come very close to death before, and I knew why it scared me so much: the thought of leaving my friends behind, how would they cope? Would they suffer? What about Sonic? After the egg-virus incident back on Earth and how he reacted to that I don't want to think what he would do if I actually died.  
I could see my little workshop in Mystic Ruins where Cream and Vanilla said they'd meet up with me. Cheese had disappeared a week or so ago, and I was doing everything possible to console Cream, despite the number of times we had searched for Cheese without success.  
I saw Vanilla outside watering my somewhat neglected desert flowers I grew out back, I'd been so busy I had forgotten to water them and they were sagging miserably in the heat, somewhat symbolic of my mood. Vanilla caught sight of me and smiled, but then noticed the limp body of Sonic over my shoulder and gasped. I touched down on the ground, placed Sonic gently on the desert grass and then collapsed in a heap alongside him. I was exhausted; I had never flown for such a distance under that kind of weight and my body was trembling in fear and exhaustion, my breathing was ragged and my fur was matted with sweat and tears. To top it all there was a growing bruise on my rump from when Sonic had booted me out of harm's way, putting himself in the line of fire, making even lying down painful. Strangely, all of this didn't hurt as much as it should do, it was probably shock but I wasn't so sure...  
"Tails, what happened?" asked Vanilla, she looked at Sonic's body covered in the syringes and then at me and my pitiful form. "Cream! Quick I need you!" The concerned rabbit quickly checked Sonic's vitals with professional ease, I saw her go through the checklist: pulse: present, eyes: responsive, breathing:...  
Ah, I knew that look.  
Vanilla quickly rolled Sonic into a recovery position and tried CPR in an attempt to get him breathing. After a painful moment it worked and Sonic sputtered back into life.  
"Thanks." Said the Hedgehog said gently before falling unconscious again. Cream rounded the corner of the house.  
"Tails! Are you okay?" Cream rushed to my side. My brain, even when tired, took everything in about her: she had been crying again, her eyes ever so slightly red and the cuffs of her sleeve damp from where she had tried to dry her eyes. Crying over Cheese again no doubt. But seeing me the rabbit seemed ready to burst into tears again. She surprised me then, she found my hand and squeezed it softly, smiling through her tears. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.  
Sonic's voice brought me back to the present; he'd muttered something. I rolled to look but he was still out cold. Sleep-talking. I often do it, but I wasn't aware of him doing it, and I should considering we often share a room This did nothing to numb my worry. Wait! There it was again! I leaned in close and caught what he said:  
"Amy."  
What? Amy? But why would he want her here? He usually spent most of the time trying to avoid her! I needed to ask later.  
"What is it Tails?" Vanilla asked. After she looked after me when I had Mobian Flu on Earth I know how caring Vanilla is, I also know that she was only asking for Sonic's sake but somehow this seemed private. I didn't want to betray Sonic's trust.  
"I don't know, can't make out what he's saying." I am really bad at lying under the best of circumstances and it never feels good to, but in this condition it didn't sound anywhere near convincing. Oh well, I just hope Vanilla will understand.  
"Okay then." she said, apparently unconvinced. "I need to get him inside. Cream, take Tails to his room, he looks like he's done a marathon or two."  
"No, I can't sleep, besides, I'm not the ill one. I need to help."  
Sonic's breath was wheezy and laboured, the rise and fall punctuating the otherwise peaceful desert air.  
"Tails, you are no use to Sonic dead, and at this rate you're just going to keel over."  
"Look, I'm the scientist and until we know what's in his system we can't treat it. I'll run the tests first then hand over to you guys."  
"Ok, but I'm not happy about it." complained the rabbit "but it will only be me looking after Sonic, Cream's keeping an eye on you overnight; you're almost as battered as Sonic and someone needs to keep an watch on you."  
"I agree." Cream chimed "but oughtn't we get Mr Sonic indoors first? It may be warm now, but it's going to get really cold out here soon.". She still calls him that out of habit from she was younger, it's quite sweet really.  
"Ok, let's get him in" muttered Vanilla discontentedly. She was concerned about Sonic and kept glancing at his body. I wasn't sure why. Eventually we got Sonic inside and on his bed and we prepared to examine him, but I had this awful feeling in my gut...  
...somehow I knew the clock was ticking.


	5. Chapter 5

I flew around him, quite literally, my tails were aching but I could still stay in the air. Just.  
Me and Vanilla were hard at work checking vitals, hooking up medical equipment. Cream was in the workshop bringing my medi-bag. I turned to Vanilla to check she was ready, she looked like she was looking at a corpse. I couldn't bear it, I had to ask.  
"What's wrong Vanilla, what are you worried about." Cream's mother looked at the floor, as if ashamed.  
"I didn't want to say, I didn't want to scare you, but I've seen these types of syringes before: when Doctor Eggman captured me last month." This was a surprise; Vanilla had been kidnapped by Eggman a month ago, but when Sonic, Knuckles and I released her she said next to nothing about her experience. I thought it was just for Cream's sake, but what if she'd seen something that scared her?  
"Eggman showed me syringes identical to those, said it was a 'Final solution' for Sonic. He said it contained a localised poison. Intended to incapacitate a target in battle and then..."  
"What Vanilla?" My voice trembled in fear, not of Eggman or this poison, but just of her next words. "What does it do?"  
"Well, it attacks the area of injection primarily, making it vulnerable to infection, a pathogen will gain hold within the hour at max. The infection is maintained by the poison, with does not affect the pathogens until the wound becomes totally totally septic. The poison up to now will have restrained it from taking over the body by separating the infection from the blood stream, but after a week, when the infesting pathogen will be at it's strongest it will simultaneously create a direct access route to the bloodstream while increasing the target's heart-rate, the poison from the injection plus that of the pathogen creating septicaemia so concentrated the target will..." her voice broke "Sonic would die within the day."  
I couldn't believe it, I had to do something. I tried to move towards him but my knees buckled involuntarily. I looked at the floor and focused; I couldn't pass out, Sonic needed me. I focussed on one of the rivets on the floor, but the rivet was inexplicably moving around, and duplicating, and dividing. Ugh, I couldn't focus and my head throbbed in agony. I closed my eyes, tempted to scream but all that came out was a high-pitched moan. I was vaguely aware of Vanilla kneeling next to me, shaking me gently, calling my name but it sounded as if my ears were full of cotton wool. I totally crumpled onto the floor, curled into a ball and wrapped my tails around me. It was an old habit, but it comforted me a little. Silent tears fell from my closed eyes. The last thing I sensed was someone's hand cupping my face before I blacked out.

A long way away a fifteen year old boy was sat cross legged on the floor of his bedroom. It was midnight, no lights were on and the distinctive sound of utter silence filled the room. The boy breathed out desperately, he'd held his breath for so long that if there were light in the room his face would probably resemble a beetroot.  
"Come on!" he muttered to himself "you've done it once you can do it again."  
He'd been trying since 10:30 when he had heard the distinctive sound of his father snoring in the room across the landing. It was a split landing and, being a musician, the boy's room was soundproofed. No chance of being heard. He loved one-way soundproofing. He could hear everything from his room, but nobody could hear him. He looked around the room looking for inspiration. His eyes wandered over his instrument stands, with the instruments stood in a regimental line, awaiting orders. It was such a conflict that it took a while to register. In the corner sat an electric drum kit, and lined against the wall was his electric guitar and tenor saxophone, but next to that sat a violin and a clarinet. On the walls were posters of The Beatles and Queen, sat quite contentedly with Beethoven and Bach. Amongst the general clutter of a typical teen's bedroom was a large, sealed cardboard box with holes in the top. He thought back to the night only a week ago when his view of the world was twisted beyond breaking point. He had defied science. What he had done was not scientifically possible. As a religious person he thought he knew how this was possible, but he didn't think his parents would see it that way. That's why the box must remain in his room, sealed whenever he was gone. Finally he turned back to the wall and raised his hand, palm outstretched like the other night and tried again. He was so desperate, so painfully desperate he did what he only did in the direst of circumstances, but he had to do this, he'd never dreamed that this was even possible. He had to do everything possible.  
He began to pray.


End file.
